Central Asian countries approve development of plan to automate water resource accounting in Syrdarya

The countries of Central Asia have agreed to develop a plan for the introduction of an automated water resource accounting system in the Syrdarya. This was announced at the 94th meeting of the Interstate Water Management Coordination Commission, which was held in Turkestan, Kazakhstan, on August 7, according to the Ministry of Water Resources.

It is expected that a working group will be formed at the meeting by the end of September, consisting of representatives of the participating countries. This group will prepare a work plan for expanding the automatic water resource accounting system in the Syrdarya basin.

The meeting also discussed water withdrawal limits in the Amu Darya and Syrdarya basins for the 2026 growing season and the operating regime of reservoirs.

According to information, since April 1, about 3 billion cubic meters of water have been received into the Shardara reservoir, which is higher than last year's and multi-year averages. The situation in the Syrdarya basin is currently assessed as stable.

The parties stressed the need for efficient water use, compliance with established limits, and improved water-related information exchange between the countries.

According to the report, "One of the main issues was the automation of water accounting in the Syrdarya basin. It was agreed to develop a draft work plan in this direction and create a working group consisting of representatives of the participating countries by the end of September."

On the same day, a meeting of the Joint Working Commission on Water Relations between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan was also held. It considered a project to automate 10 hydropoints located on the territory of the two countries. The parties agreed to accelerate the attraction of grant funds to complete the project and subsequently study the possibility of introducing automated water accounting to other facilities in the Syrdarya basin.

Recall that in May, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan agreed on the operating regime of the Bahri Tajik reservoir for June-August 2026. In December, the State Commission for Coordination of Water Management in Central Asia agreed on water withdrawal limits and the operating regime of reservoirs for the non-vegetation period of 2025-2026. According to it, in 2026, Uzbekistan will receive 22 billion cubic meters of water from the Amu Darya and 3,347 billion cubic meters from the Syrdarya.